One piece integral beverage container

ABSTRACT

A one piece integral beverage container has a bottom wall, a side wall and an open top that form a first or main chamber. Integral to an inner surface of the side wall is an inner wall that forms a second or sub chamber. The sub chamber has an opening at a first end adjacent the bottom wall and a drinking extension at a second end that extends upwardly from a top edge of the side wall.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/786,834 filed Dec. 31, 2018, the contents of this application ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a beverage container and moreparticularly a container where a cup, straw, and lid are all integraland made of a single molded piece.

In America, over 500 million straws are used every day. In just the pasttwenty years, people have come to expect plastic straws in every drink.Straws are usually dropped in the garbage with little thought. Most ofthese straws end up in the ocean, polluting the water and killing marinelife. Most plastic straws are too lightweight to make it through amechanical recycling sorter. They drop through sorting screens and mixwith other materials and are too small to separate. Once in the oceanstraws break down into smaller pieces rather than biodegrading ordissolving, which poses a threat to marine life. Accordingly, a needexists in the art for a device that addresses these problems.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a one piece integralbeverage container that eliminates the need for a straw.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a one pieceintegral beverage container that has a beneficial effect on theenvironment.

These and other objectives will be apparent to those having ordinaryskill in the art based upon the following written description, drawings,and claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A one piece integral beverage container has a bottom wall, a side wall,and an open top that form a first or main chamber. Integrally formed toan inner surface of the sidewall is an inner wall that forms a second orsub chamber. The sub chamber has a first end and a second end.

Adjacent the bottom wall, at the first end of the sub chamber is anopening. Extending outwardly, at the second end of the sub chamber andfrom a top edge of the side wall is a drinking extension. The drinkingextension is integrally formed with and in communication with the subchamber.

A lid is integrally connected to the top edge of the side wall by ahinge. The lid has an opening, preferably with a breakaway portion, thataligns with and receives the drinking extension when in a closedposition. The lid also has a groove on its outer periphery formed toreceive the top edge of the side wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a beverage container;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a beverage container; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of a beverage container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the figures, a beverage container 10 has a bottom wall 12,a side wall 14, and an open top 16 that form a chamber 18. The side wall14 has an outer surface 20 and an inner surface 22. Integrally formedwith the inner surface 22 of the side wall 14 is an inner wall 24 thatforms a sub chamber 26. The sub chamber 26 is of any size, shape andstructure and preferably has a cylindrical, straw-like shape.

Adjacent the bottom wall 12, the inner wall 24 has an opening 28 thatpermits fluid to flow between the chamber 18 and the sub chamber 26.Extending upwardly from a top edge 30 of the side wall 14 of thecontainer 10, aligned with and integral to sub chamber 26, is a drinkingextension 32. Preferably, the drinking extension 32 is resilient.

Integrally formed to the top edge 30, opposite the drinking extension32, is a lid or cover 34. The lid or cover 34 has a hinge 36 thatpermits the lid 34 to be selectively moved to fit over the open top 16of the container 10. The lid has an opening 38, preferably with abreakaway cover 40 that is positioned to align with and receive thedrinking extension. Also, the outer periphery 42 of the lid 34 has agroove 44 formed to receive the top edge 30 of the container 10.

In operation, the container 10, which is of one piece moldedconstruction, is filled with a liquid. The liquid flows from the chamber18 through opening 28 and into sub chamber 26. The lid 34 is pivotedabout hinge 36 toward the top edge 30 of the container. As the lid 34 ismoved, the drinking extension 32 extends through the lid opening 38. Ifthe opening 38 has a cover 40, the drinking extension 32 breaks thecover 40 away before extending through the opening. The lid 34 ispressed against the top edge 30 of the container so that the top edge 30is received within the groove 44. Finally, by sucking on the drinkingextension 32, fluid flows from sub chamber 26 and out of drinkingextension 32.

From the above discussion and accompanying figures and claims it will beappreciated that the beverage container 10 offers many advantages overthe prior art. It will be appreciated further by those skilled in theart that other various modification could be made to the device withoutparting from the spirit and scope of this invention. All suchmodifications and changes fall within the scope of the claims and areintended to be covered thereby. It should be understood that theexamples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposesonly and that various modifications or changes in light thereof will besuggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included in thespirit and purview of this application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A one piece integral beverage containercomprising: a bottom wall, a side wall, and an open top that form achamber; an inner wall integrally formed with an inner surface of a sidewall to form a sub chamber; wherein the sub chamber has an openingadjacent the bottom wall of the chamber.
 2. The container of claim 1wherein the sub chamber has a cylindrical straw-like shape.
 3. Thecontainer of claim 1 further comprising a drinking extension thatextends upwardly from a top edge of the side wall and aligned with andintegral to the sub chamber.
 4. The container of claim 3 wherein thedrinking extension is resilient.
 5. The container of claim 1 furthercomprising a lid connected to a top edge of the side wall by a hinge. 6.The container of claim 5 wherein the lid has a groove on the lid's outerperiphery adapted to receive the top edge of the side wall.
 7. Thecontainer of claim 5 wherein the lid has an opening positioned to alignwith and receive a drinking extension.
 8. The container of claim 7wherein the opening has a breakaway cover.